Encounter
by Emrilb
Summary: She didn't plan this- How could one possibly plan on betraying their home? She didn't think she'd ever want any of this. But she'd be damned if she didn't protect the child with her life. (Oro/Anko) (Pre-Shippuden) (OC warning)


It was a peaceful night in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The night had a certain kind of beauty only found in this particular village. The dark sky was illuminated by a big bright moon that bleached the Hokage face cliffs a pale blue hue. The navy sky was clear of any clouds and sprinkled with an uncountable amount of twinkling stars. The village streets below were quiet and still, a reflection of the peaceful sky above.

But despite the beauty and serenity of this night, Anko Mitarashi was gripped with anxiety. She was on edge every night now. Despite how peaceful and relaxed a night may be, panic gripped her when the sun fell, because she knew it would be in the darkest hours of the night when _he_ would choose to make his appearance. As foolish and war hungry as she knows he is, she also knows that he won't dare enter the village during the daylight.

She also knows however, that eventually he will inevitably come. She had after all made it though her entire pregnancy without him knowing... or rather, she supposed, without him visiting. She had hid the pregnancy quite well on her part, but a part of her suspected he knew. The fact he hadn't come yet led her to believe that he was simply waiting for the child to be born before making his move, whatever that move may be.

As Anko lay on her bed this particular night, she thought about the nine months she had spent hiding and lying to her friends, fellow nin and superiors.

She had betrayed her home and committed an act of unjustifiable treason. She had definitely not set out with that intention however.

She had been on a solo mission near the border of the hidden Sound Village, and some part of her trembled with anger thinking of the last time she had encountered him on her home soil during the Chunnin exam. So without taking even one second to think about how stupid she was being, she set out with the intention to smash him into two billion pieces; similar to the number of pieces she _felt_ her heart break into when her sensei had told her she wasn't good enough. Her attempt had of course had been completely unsuccessful; but she had managed to mess up his little assistant pretty good. It was a truly pathetic experience on her part when she did find the man she was looking for. When she did, she just completely froze up.

She intended to find him yes- everything that happened after she had, not so much...

He hadn't even _looked_ like himself. At the time he hadn't even possessed the strength to preform the jutsu required to mask the choice body with his own appearance, so he had the face of the poor man's body he had stolen for his last soul transfer. Even without the unsettling jutsu to alter his appearance, she'd still fallen into his manipulating game.

" _Dear, Anko"_ The sound of his voice rang in her head " _How many times must you attempt the impossible. I am immortal. I am eternal. I will never be defeated."_

Anko rolled over with a frustrated huff to dispel the memory. Her eyes instead landed on the infant laying next to her. Her expression softened instantly at the peaceful face of her sleeping son.

Her son didn't evoke as warm emotions in other people as he did her, and she understood why. Anko frowned as she remembered the first time her parents had seen her son. Her mother gasped the second she laid her eyes on the infant, immediately recognizing the resemblance to Anko's once Sensei, then cried against her fathers shoulder. Her father just looked at her with the same eyes everyone did;

 _Filled with pity._

The day Anko found out she was pregnant, she had been so grief stricken the first place she had gone was straight to the Hokage tower. She fell to her knees in front of Tsunade's desk and divulged to her all the details of the unintentional encounter. She apologized profusely- not that she thought it was going to change anything; she still expected to be either arrested or exiled and deemed a traitor.

But the Hokage, having a previous relationship with the man herself took pity on the younger woman and decided to help her. Tsunade, naturally, as everyone seemed too, blamed Orochimaru for the whole incident. Then had assured Anko that no one would know, and that the details of the child's genetics would be kept between the two of them.

Not that it was difficult to figure out whom the unknown parent was just by looking at the infant boy... The fact that he changed bodies so frequently didn't distort his DNA in any way; he still possessed the same genetic traits.

Anko then infused her chakra, and felt out her surroundings. She did this every half an hour or so, feeling around for anything that caused her suspicion, and it was then, in that moment she felt the vestiges of a chakra force from what seemed to be a very powerful nin. She was used to feeling powerful chakra signatures all over the village, but this particular one hadn't been there the last time she had scanned a mere half hour before. When she sensed it she sat upright immediately and infused again, really focusing this time, zeroing in on that one single force.

It felt familiar, but that didn't mean much. This village was full of signatures she felt on a daily basis, all of them felt at least a little familiar. The familiarity of _this_ particular signature unnerved her, but she was positive she would feel the curse mark pain when he was close, so she forced herself to lie back down despite the nagging feeling in her gut.

A few minutes later, for some reason she couldn't quite identify, she was still feeling quite restless. The nagging feeling in her gut wouldn't quite settle. She was vividly remembering that time outside the forest of death when he was _wearing_ that Grass ninja's face and she had been unable to sense him at all. Initially she assumed that it was because she hadn't seen him in 15 years so she had lost touch with the feeling of his chakra nature, but what if it was simply because he was _that_ good at suppressing his nature entirely?

Then suddenly, there was a burning stab.

Anko gasped in pain and grit her teeth aggressively, the hot pain was so intense it would have knocked her for sure to her knees if she hadn't already been laying down. She clamped a trembling hand instinctively over the black mark on the conjunction of her neck and shoulder. She felt him physically this way, through the nauseating ache in her curse mark before she actually felt his physical presence; but she knew for certain in that moment that he had finally chosen to make his appearance.

 _Her gut feeling had been correct._

She jerked awkwardly upwards and slid her gaze side to side, hastily scanning her small bedroom for the looming threat, before she scooped up Yashagoro with one arm and leaped out of her bed. She removed her already trembling hand from her neck then grabbed a kunai from her bedside table. A far away part of her mind registered that the child didn't even fuss at being being picked up, something Anko was idly thankful for as she had other things to worry about...

She was in the dark, she was down to one hand, and she had nothing but a kunai to defend herself; but she refused to falter; she couldn't afford to be afraid.

"Good evening, Anko..."

Anko nearly leapt out of her skin when she finally heard his voice. It brought with it so many unpleasant memories it made her nauseous. She looked in the direction the greeting had come from and finally seen him. He stood by the open window across the small room, a mere twelve feet away. His silhouette was illuminated by the moonlight spilling in. She could barely identify any part of him in the darkness, but she could almost make out his face, as his pale skin practically glowed in the low light.

 _He had finally mustered the strength to revert to his original appearance._

"Orochimaru..." She growled, tightening the hold she had on her kunai.

"I must say thanks to you for infusing your chakra at such regular intervals, it made finding you so much easier..." He mused with a small chuckle.

"How did I not sense it was you?" She asked aloud mostly to herself. She was dumbfounded. With a chakra signature has powerful as his, most ninja would be able to sense him from miles away.

"Chakra suppression, dear..." He hummed "Although, if memory serves me correctly it was never your strong suit-"

"What" She spat "Do you want." Cutting off his remark, her anger beginning to seethe; she didn't want to deal with his pleasantry act. But, as well as the anger, fear was beginning to manifest in her mind; as little as she ever wanted to admit it, she was terrified; and since the anger and resentment helped to curb the fear she rarely allowed herself to feel, she let those emotions envelop her.

"Now, Anko. You're a smart girl, I think you've already figured out why I'm here" He said, his nature turning less pleasant and more predatory as he stalked a few steps towards her.

"How did you even find out about him?" She hissed darkly "Just outta, curiosity" She already knew exactly how he found out. It was no secret that he had contacts in every hidden village. She was just desperate to distract him; even momentarily, so she could think of something; _anything_ , to help her get out of this situation with Yashagoro in _one_ piece.

Even with all the nights she had spend wide awake anticipating this encounter she had never actually been able to think up a logical way to escape this situation alive.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over such _minor_ details..." Orochimaru sneered to her "However, did you truly believe you could keep it a secret from me?"

Anko grit her teeth. She would have undoubtedly lunged at him by now if she hadn't had her child wrapped up in her arms.

He was testing her, and she knew it.

She then suddenly decided to back pedal and attempted to rein her rage in, it wasn't helping her to think clearly and it was giving her reckless thoughts. At least while she was drowning in the fear and uncertainty she could think more rationally. She truthfully didn't have many maternal instincts, but instincts she did have were fight or flight from _many_ years of being a shinobi.

The baby rustled a little in her arm and let out a quiet cry when Anko took a hesitant step back, and she desperately held him closer in response. "Shhh- Yashagoro" She whispered to the infant, praying silently he would settle.

"Yashagoro..." Orochimaru chuckled amused "How _ironic_ "

Anko narrowed her eyes.

"Do you truly believe he will be different?" He asked raising an eyebrow, taking yet another step closer. He stood now a mere half a room away from Anko, and she was really panicking now.

She had nowhere to go. The door and the only window in the room were now both _behind_ him.

"I do..." She kept talking, stalling him. Though she didn't even know what she was stalling. He yet to tell her his intentions, although she had a feeling she wasn't going to like them.

"You amuse me, dear"

"What are your intentions anyway?" She asked him suddenly "Are you going to attempt to kill him?" She didn't _really_ want to know the answer, but she gathered her courage and asked anyway.

He was silent for a few moments, smiling widely into the almost black room. Anko caught the sight of his fangs gleaming in the low light and it made her shiver uncomfortably.

"No..." He finally replied and Anko to let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Quite the opposite actually, I wish for him to strengthen and develop..."

Anko almost fell to her knees at his reply. She had assumed from almost the moment she had discovered the pregnancy that he would react vehemently and kill the child, and herself in the process. To now find out, that his plan was exactly the opposite made her head spin. Not that she should exactly be surprised that she hadn't guessed his plan correctly, the Snake Sannin had always been anything but predictable. Still, she didn't drop her guard. After all, he had come for some reason, even if it wasn't to kill Yashagoro.

"He could make an excellent vessel one day when he has matured" Orochimaru finally added darkly.

That was it.

Anko's eyes widened in disgust as the words seeped in. She should have known he didn't _really_ intend on letting Yashagoro live.

"As a vessel?..." The words tumbled dumbly from her mouth as she processed the meaning. He smiled at her in such a dark, _disgusting_ way as she stared at him with wide eyes. The look he gave her made her take another step back in an attempt to put some space between them, but she bumped into the wall behind her.

"Yes..." He confirmed darkly.

"You are not going to use _my_ child as one of your choice bodies!" She said suddenly with a start, regaining her composure.

He smiled a small, positively _evil_ smile then. A wicked gleam shining in his golden snake-like eyes "He is _our_ child, Anko..."

Anko grit her teeth and shuddered.

She hated that thought.

Yashagoro was not _their_ child. He was _her_ child.

"Why?" She asked something akin to a mix of desperation and anger staining her voice "Why him?"She couldn't stop the disgust from seeping into her voice as she spoke.

Orochimaru smiled again, that same evil smirk. "He already contains half my DNA, so the chance of rejection is reduced dramatically..." Anko's grip on the kunai in her fist tightened "In my current state I am forced to switch bodies every two and a half to three years. With a body that already contains half my DNA, I estimate I could go as long as six to eight years without a transfer being required..."

"So are you here to give him the curse mark then?" She asked sharply with wide eyes. She knew personally what he did to people he deemed fit for his next body.

"Of course not" He said with a tone that suggested _she_ was acting as if though she was the one that was insane "An infant would never survive the manifestation of the mark..." He said "Although, perhaps when he is older..."

Anko cringed at the nonchalant way he talked about such things.

"I will not let that happen-" Anko scoffed angrily.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly at her statement, stalking a few steps further in her direction "And are you going to stop me, dear?" He asked her sardonically; that mocking air also had a tinge of amusement to it. She knew he was thinking of the time not so long ago in the forest of death when he had defeated her with ease.

"I don't care if I have to die as well in the process" She snapped back darkly.

His expression darkened at her comment, and he closed even more distance between them. He stood a mere couple of feet away from her when he spoke again "That could be arranged if you so wish, Anko" He threatened darkly.

Anko growled in a wordless response to his threat; his ever constant arrogance and under-estimation of her abilities never failed to send her into a boiling rage.

Suddenly, he looked away from her and for the first time since the exchange had first begun, down at the child bundled tightly against her. She watched his expression carefully, ready to defend at any moment.

She barely made out the way he frowned in the darkness. She was aware that his vision allowed for him to be able to see vividly in the dark, which also meant that he would be able to see Yashagoro perfectly.

She hesitantly looked away from the man in front of her and down at her child, made curious by the way Orochimaru frowned, and she almost gasped.

Yashagoro stared wide eyed and curious back at the man in front of them. Anko realized then that Yashagoro must posses the same ability as Orochimaru to decipher anything even in the complete darkness.

"Genetics are such a mysterious phenomena" Orochimaru mused quietly aloud, breaking the temporary silence "Even with the soul transfer jutsu..." He trailed off "Truly fascinating"

She knew he was referring to the fact that the child looked so much like himself despite the fact that he was possessing another's body to survive.

When he took one more curious step, that's all it took to send Anko into the defensive. She swiftly raised the kunia from her side and held it defensively in front of herself. "Stay away from him-" She spat menacingly.

Orochimaru laughed aloud at her indignation before he (always trying to push her patience to the edge) took another and final step closer and made contact with the knife she held in front of herself, leaning a little of his weight into it.

"Try it, dear"

Anko squeezed her eyes shut, her hand gripping around the weapons handle so hard that it caused her knuckles to blanch and her arm to shake.

 _Why._

 _Why couldn't she do it?_

When he chucked at her weakness, she growled while pulling the blade away from him and threw the knife sharply off to her side, relishing the sound of the shattering drywall as it made contact with the wall.

She wrapped her now vacant arm around Yashagoro and dropped her head in surrender. She grit her teeth at her own weakness; she wouldn't make any attempts to fight him tonight.

Anko's head jerked up when a cool hand made contact with the one she had around Yashagoro "I will return..." Orochimaru said, leaning in a little, his golden eyes meeting hers intentionally "When he is older... to monitor progress"

Anko opened her mouth to retort but Orochimaru swiftly caught her lips with his own.

Anko cringed at the feeling of his cool lips, immediately jerking her head to the side to tear her mouth from his. Orochimaru threw his head back and cackled evilly.

"Make no attempts to stop me, or you will be destroyed in the process..." He added in promise.

Anko growled under his gaze as he finally began to move away from her, and glared at his back as he turned to leave.

"Tell as many people about this encounter as you wish..." Orochimaru added as he walked to the open window "No one will stop me..."

"We'll see about that..." Anko hissed under her breath, knowing without a doubt he heard her when he chuckled.

"Goodbye for now, dear Anko" And then he was gone, just as silently as he had come.

Anko stared at the open window for a full minute to ensure he was actually gone before she let go of all the tension she had been holding in her body. Then she tried to process the encounter that had just taken place. She would never allow him to harm Yashagoro, and until her dying breath she would fight in every single way possible to make sure he never suffered the fate of dying for the simple reason to extend the Snake's life; but at least- for the time being, Yashagoro was safe...

Anko sagged onto her bed, and sighed.

At least now that he had finally visited she could maybe get a good night sleep for the first time in months...

* * *

This took me 4 and half years of procrastination and dry spells- _just another DAy in MY LIFE._

Anyways, this is an origin story for one of my ( way too many ) Naruto OC's. (He's lowkey my fav, don't tell the others)

Oro/Anko is basically the crackship love of my life so naturally they needed to angst-ly have a baby :3

The name Yashagoro actually comes from the Japanese legend Kishimoto got inspiration for the Sannin from. Which is actually called the tale of the Sannin. The legend basically states that before Orochimaru was corrupt by snake magic, his name was Yashagoro. (I dunno if the Sannin we know and love are aware of the legend but anyways, Yashagoro is basically a form of an uncorrupted Orochimaru)

 **Anyways, thank you so much for reading. If you're at all interested in knowing more about Yashagoro I have plenty of drawings on my DA of him, and I plan on (hopefully) writing plenty more about him in the future.**


End file.
